- Orpheus Pledger appealed prison sentence
- The court heard he showed worrying signs of behavior
A troubled former Australian actor has shown worrying signs of behaviour, including grandiosity, while on bail on assault charges, a court has been told.
Orpheus Pledger, 31, appeared in Victoria County Court on Tuesday to appeal a seven-month jail sentence imposed in August for attacking a woman twice in March.
The former Home and Away star swapped the black hoodie from his last court appearance for a purple plaid shirt and appeared to have cut his hair and shaved.
His lawyers have asked Judge Michael Tinney to reimpose him on a community corrections order and for the 97 days he spent in custody to be considered time served.
But Judge Tinney raised concerns about the reports from Pledger’s bail supervisors, saying it appeared “the wheels seemed to be falling off”.
Pledger, according to the report, had missed several appointments over the past two months and was exhibiting concerning behavioral changes, including being overly talkative, talking off topic, grandiosity and euphoria, and had self-adjusted his medication.
He denied having relapsed into drug use, the court was told, but no tests had been carried out.
Judge Tinney said he was “deeply concerned” by the development, noting that a psychiatrist had found Pledger was at increased risk of reoffending if he relapsed into drug use.
A troubled former Australian actor has shown worrying signs of behaviour, including grandiosity, while on bail on assault charges, a court has been told.
Orpheus Pledger, 31 (right), appeared in Victoria County Court on Tuesday to appeal a seven-month jail sentence imposed in August for attacking a woman twice in March.
“His relevant functioning had deteriorated to a point described as worrying,” he said.
Pledger was arrested in March after attacking a woman twice that month.
One of the incidents was captured in part on a motion-activated camera, in which Pledger dragged the woman by her hair to the ground and stomped on her head.
He was released on bail in late April to undergo a medical evaluation over concerns about his mental health, but fled, sparking a manhunt.
The 30-year-old actor was granted bail on Monday and taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital for a court-ordered medical assessment of his mental health.
Previously, Melbourne Magistrates Court was told hospital nurses observed him muttering that he was going to “kill”.
Pledger pleaded guilty to charges of reckless injury and unlawful battery, and his lawyer explained that Pledger’s drug use had increased in recent years.
“He certainly feels terrible about what happened and the impact it has had,” said attorney Justin MacCuspie.
One of the incidents was captured in part on a motion-activated camera, in which Pledger drags the woman by her hair to the ground and stomps on her head.
Pledger began acting at age 9 in commercials and the children’s series Silversun before working on Neighbors in 2011.
He later took on the role of Mason Morgan on Home and Away from 2016 to 2019 and most recently appeared as a contestant on SAS Australia in 2022.
Judge Tinney will rule on the appeal Tuesday afternoon.